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This study aims to understand the role of elites in strengthening the relations of cooperation between Kuwait and Qatar in the pre-independence phase, which coincided with the rule of Sheikh Ahmed Al-Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah (1885-1950) in Kuwait, and Sheikh Abdullah bin Jasim Al Thani in Qatar (1880-1957). ), through the study of a set of British correspondence and reports during the Second World War available on the Qatar Digital Library website, in addition to another set of unpublished commercial papers of one of the Qatari families, which were donated to the Qatar National Library. The study argued that food shortages and the food policies pursued by the British at the time of World War II had caused the building of trade alliances between the two emirates. On a larger scale, this study explored the nature of the relations between the merchants of Kuwait and Qatar and how they worked and merged with each other legally and illegally during the Second World War, this helps in drawing a picture of the societies of the Arab Gulf merchants in the pre-oil period. Also, this study is an addition to the history of the Arab Gulf region in the period of the first world economy (1815-1948), when capitalism developed, and the British Empire dominated. The study concluded that during the war period, Kuwaiti merchants played a crucial role in revitalizing Qatar’s economy during this period, and participated in the trade of smuggling supplies, and in creating what they are called “war riches.” Also, the study proved the importance of Kuwait in the Gulf economy during the so-called economy of the first globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]